Journey behind bars
Why Cebu’s jails remain overcrowded
Inmates of the Mandaue City jail attend a Mass in the hallway celebrated nu Fr. Joseph Amore of the Cebu Archdiocese prison apostolate in 2011. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
At 68 years old, Andronico Tol knows time isn’t on his side.
After four years in the Mandaue city jail, the carpenter is still waiting for his criminal trial to move forward.
“Kaanindot unta kon akong makauban ang akong pamilya matag adlaw samtang akong gipaabot ang kamatayon.”
(If only I could spend the remaining days of my life with my family),” said Tol who has four children and a wife.
Police arrested Tol at home in barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City. He was accused of keeping two sticks of marijuana, an allegation he vehemently denied.
From the time he was charged in June 2011, his case was heard only three times.
In a year, he said, his case would be set for hearing at least twice. Sometimes court proceedings were cancelled or postponed due to the absence of the judge, the prosecutor, or the lawyers.
Flipping through the sheets of a calendar on the wall of his cell, Tol shook his head.
“Huot ang akong dughan tungod sa kaguol. (My chest aches because of so much worrying),” he said.
His family couldn’t afford to pay his bail of P200,000 or even a P20,000 surety bond.
“Nagsige kog ampo nga unta maluoy ang Ginoo og makagawas na ko gikan dinhi kay tiguwang na ko, aron kon unsa may mahitabo nako, tua ko sa sabakan sa akong pamilya.” (I keep praying for the Lord to have pity on me and set me free. I’m already old. Whatever happens, I want to be with my family).
A government lawyer was assigned to him by the court but Tol said he rarely sees him.
LIKE SARDINES
While languishing in jail, Tol developed a cough. A cyst appeared on his nape.
Overcrowding in the Mandaue city as in other parts of the country are conditions ripe for different illnesses and disease.
At night, Tol and other detainees sleep on carton sheets spread on the floor. The heat, the stench of sweat, dirt, and toilet odors make it difficult to breathe.
Inmates can barely stretch their limbs. Each cell, designed for four persons, holds over 30 inmates.
They take turns using the lone toilet and shower in the cell.
When they sleep, they lie on their sides huddled close together “like sardines”, he said.
“Mas maayo pa man ang baboy, makabali-bali say iya pagkatulog. Pero kami, magtakilid, nagsinardinas gyud.
“Kon unsay among position inig katulog, mao na gyud na hangtud sa buntag. Steady lang mi kay kon mobali ka, masuko man ang imong tapad.”
(Pigs are better off because they can sleep in whatever position they want. We have to sleep on our sides, like sardines. We stay in exactly the same position until the morning because once we move, the inmates next to us might get mad).
“Pait kaayo ang among kahimtang. Inig mata nako sa buntag, maminhud ang akong tiil. Bikogan ko kay dili man ko katuy-od sa akong lawas samtang matulog.”
(It’s a terrible situation. When I wake up in the morning, my feet are numb because I couldn’t stretch my legs.)
Jail congestion is common in all 34 detention facilities in Cebu and Central Visayas, reaching a staggering 1,071 percent in Mandaue city, according to records of the PNP Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
MANDAUE WORST
Mandaue city’s jail has the worst record. Congestion is more than ten-fold.
The jail’s male dormitory tops the list with 1,113 detainees. The facility was designed for 95 inmates.
Some inmates just squat on the floor and lean their heads on the steel bars to catch some sleep at night.
WHY?
Court officials point to the slow disposal of cases due to the lack of trial courts to handle the large volume of cases in Mandaue City, which has three Regional Trial Court (RTC) branches compared to 22 in Cebu City.
Bigger detention centers are needed but there’s no budget or inadequate funds.
Another factor is the lack of legal representation for many inmates, who can’t afford to retain a private lawyer to follow up their court cases.
There is also a glaring lack of free legal aid volunteers offering their services for accused persons who are indigent.
All inmates in the Mandaue city jail are detention prisoners still waiting for their cases to be tried and finally resolved.
None of them are convicted of the crime or crimes they are accused of– a fact that the public often forgets in stereotyping them as “convicts” found guilty of misdeeds.
The Mandaue city jail has been in the top 10 most congested jails nationwide for at least a decade.
It was taken off only last year after a new facility was added but the jail still has an excess of over 1,000 inmates.
As of March 2015, the San Jose District Jail in Occidental Mindoro is the most overcrowded jail in the country with an excess of 1,825 inmates.
BJMP officials was forced to build an additional three-storey building within the compound of the Mandaue City Jail to address congestion.
Even with the new facility, which can hold up to 40 prisoners, the situation is tight.
“The number of inmates in the Mandaue City Jail just increases year after year,” said Jail Senior Inspector Brian Roy Mercado.
He served as senior deputy jail warden until he was transferred to Cebu City last April 1.
Out of 48 inmates committed to the city jail in a month, 34 are released or transferred to the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog,
Southern Leyte, one of seven correctional facilities in the country which houses offenders who have been sentenced to three or more years.
Convicted prisoners are no longer shipped off to the new Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. Under an order of the Department of Justice, convicts from Central Visayas shall be sent to the facility in Leyte.
Mandaue city’s jail used to be located in the police station near City Hall in barangay Centro. In 1993, BJMP constructed the Mandaue City Jail in barangay Looc about two kilometers from the city center.
The original facility had 36 detention cells, enough space for the population at the time.
In 1998, BJMP built an annex after noticing an increase in the jail population.
An infirmary was added to house 30 inmates. In a separate room, at least 11 detainees with tuberculosis were isolated from the rest.
Within a decade, the population shot up. In 2009, there were 669 inmates. Today the number has ballooned to 1,113.
PATIENCE
Jail Senior Inspector Mercado said jail officers are doing their best to provide a humane atmosphere for inmates.
“I’d like to correct the notion of some people that jail facilities are meant to punish detainees. That may have been true in the past but that’s absolutely not the case now. We use a restorative and rehabilitative approach,” he said.
Every week, he said, jail officers meet the inmates to exchange hugs and felicitations.
“We try to make them feel that they are not strangers to us; that they are our siblings. We, jail officers, are their big brothers and sisters. We will guide them in every way,” he said.
Even the worst offender is capable of doing good, said Mercado.
“No matter how evil their deeds may have been, I believe there’s goodness within each of them. They can change for the better. And we’re just waiting for that innate goodness to come out,” he said.
Mercado appealed to inmates to be extra patient as they continue to go through various ordeals caused by jail overcrowding.
“We in the bureau are doing our best but we can only do so much. The inmates’ fate lies in the hands of the trial courts which have jurisdiction over them,” he said. (To be continued tomorrow)